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Bastien Guillroy
Scheming, self-righteous and fantatical in his faith, Bastien Guillroy is a man convinced that his is the right path, and that his is a voice to be heard and obeyed. Despairing of the weakness and corruption he sees in the world around him, Bastien's faith is dangerously close to zealotry, and his quick mind dangerously close to madness. Background Bastien's life has always been defined by the Chantry, since before he was born. His mother was a Chantry cleric serving in the chapel in the Circle in Starkhaven, and had been a faithful and devout Sister there for many years, noted for offering a sympathetic ear to the mages and for encouraging peace between mage and Templar . Many in the Starkhaven tower respected her, and her apparently sure and unshakable faith. Then she met Bastien's father. The pair met shortly after he had transferred to Starkhaven from the Rivaini Circle in Dairsmuid. A born and bred Rivaini, he had little to no time for the notion of the Maker, instead trying to convince many of the mages to follow his ideas of the Natural Order that the Rivaini follow. The two could often be seen debating theology and religion, overcoming their opposing views on the matter to form a friendship based on an appreciation of each other's dedication to a cause and convictions. As they say, one thing led to another, and one dark night in the Chantry, Bastien was conceived. Needless to say, the Templars were not happy. Bastien's father was quickly transferred to another Circle, while his mother was stripped of her rank as a Sister and taken to the Chantry prison of Aenoar. Once was born, he was quickly taken from his mother to be raised by the Chantry. Bastien's magic did not appear until relatively late, when he was thirteen. Having been raised by the clerics with the expectation of becoming a Brother himself at some, the discovery of his magic shattered Bastien's world, unable to reconcile his faith with his having magic, at least at first. It was only with the passage of time that he came to see that his magic was given to him by the Maker for a reason, and was able to reconcile the two halves of himself - mage, and Chantry Brother. Bastien's upbringing made him a natural Loyalist, a fraternity which the natural politician in him found woefully naive and painfully unequipped to deal with the challenges of dealing with the Libetarian and Aequetarian demands. Throwing himself into fraternity politics in an attempt to drive the Loyalists to modernize, Bastien truly rose through the ranks when he aided the Templars of Val Royeaux in uncovering a practicing maleficar in the heart of the White Spire - without realizing that this maleifcar, the Enchanter Julianne Ambre, was his own father. When confronted with by the Templars, Ambre retaliated with force, ultimately forcing father and son into a magical duel in the halls of the White Spire. The duel was fierce, but ultimately ended when Bastien struck the man he did not know was his father down with a powerful Mana Clash. With the Templars support in the wake of his defeat of his father, Bastien quickly rose through the ranks of both the Circle hierarchy, and the Loyalist fraternity, being named a Senior Enchanter soon after the duel, and becoming a noted voice within the Val Royeaux Loyalist fraternity, and the Loyalists as a whole. When the call went out for mages to travel to the newly established Arogran Circle in Orzammar , the response from the Loyalists was unenthusiastic, to say the least. Concerned at the complete lack of Chantry involvement in the Circle, and the response this may provoke from the Templars, the First Enchanter of Val Royeaux personally asked Bastien to travel to and serve in Argoran. Unable to refuse the direct request from his superior, Bastien reluctantly agreed to travel to Argoran, and in doing so also took a number of other Loyalists with him to Orzammar. Quickly establishing himself at the leader of the Loyalist fraternity in Orzammar, and one of the more influential mages in the dwarven city, Bastien quickly set to work coaxing a handful of the former apostates to join his Loyalists for a chance of redemption. More tellingly, he also quickly managed to convince the leader of the Lucrosian fraternity in Argoran to be work with him, effectively becoming his puppet though a combination of blackmail, bribery and promises. In doing so, Bastien has ensured that his word and his support carried a significant amount of weight in the halls of Argoran. Appearance Bastien has the standard rosy Orlesian complexion, though is recent time spent underground in Orzammar has made his skin tone somewhat paler than usual, as it has with most of the Arogran mages. He generally has well defined, if somewhat average, features. In particular, his jawline is remarkably well defined and 'strong', for lack of a better word, as is his slightly squared chin. His hair is a dark chocolate brown color, and in the lack of a decent barber in Orzammar, Bastien has allowed his hair to grow long. His eyes are a pale mint green color, though in the right light they could easily be mistaken for being grey and colorless. Bastien owns and uses a variety of different sets of robes, each as lavish and luxurious as the last. Made of the highest quality silks and dyed using only the best inks, his robes and sashes would look just as fitting in the high courts of Orlais as they would the halls of a Circle of Magi. His robes tend to be brightly colored and highly decorated, most bearing the Chantry sunburst somewhere in the design, declaring his allegiance to the Loyalists and paying homage to the divine Maker above. Bastien is noted for owning and wearing a collection of jewelry. In addition to a silver Sword of Mercy which he wears on a chain around his neck at all times, Bastien also owns a set of ornate prayer beads, carved out of ivory and each decorated to show a different scene of the Chantry's history. In addition to these beads, customarily thrown over his shoulders, Bastien also wears an array of various rings, both silver, set with a dazzling array of precious stones - rubies, sapphires, emeralds, purple amethysts ... Among all these pretty trinkets, Bastien also includes two magical beneficial rings - the Ring of Faith and the Soulbound ring, both of which he appropriated from a dwarven merchant shortly upon his arrival in Orzammar. Personality As a Loyalist, Bastien believes that mages should submit to the will of the Chantry, and applies this same logic to most situations - he believes that the Circles should become fully assimilated within the Chantry and follow the Chantry's policies and practices. He sees his magic, and magic in general, as a divine gift, one that should be used responsibly and properly, while never forgetting the risks and dangers the study of magic possesses. After all, magic exists to serve man, and never to rule over him. For this reasons, Bastien loathes all apostates, seeing them as weak, selfish creatures unworthy of the gift of magic - and in his mind, the Libetarians are just as bad as apostates in their rejection of what he sees as divine mandate. He brands them all as heretics and heathens, and sees Argoran as a viper's nest of sinners who need to be cleansed. Possessing a shrewd political mind, Bastien enjoys plotting and weaving plans together - the more complicated the better. In many ways the arc-typical politician, complete with scheming smile and knowing glint in his eye, Bastien has no qualms about gaining whatever small advantage he can over his rivals, regardless of how he does so. The ends, after all, justify the means. Political as he is, however, Bastien also has a tendency to instantly distrust others and be suspicious of their motives, especially where the Libetarians are concerned. Abilities An ornate and highly decorative staff featuring an intricate spiral pattern, Bastien's staff is suitably lavish and luxurious. Featuring a large, shining amethyst atop the staff, in the center of the spiral, Bastien has carried this staff with him for years, having commissioned it to be made in celebration of his appointment to Enchanter years ago. The staff can fire bolts of spirit energy, and also increases the power of the bearer's lightning based attacks. Bastien has mastered the Spirit school of spells, is adept with the use of primal and arcane magics, and is a novice with creation magic. For the purposes of his Battlemage specilization, he favors the use of lightning. In terms of skills, Bastien is adept at Herbalism. Details of his spells can be found on the mage page, while the skills are taken from Dragon Age: Origins. Recent Events With the Chantry being reluctantly welcomed into Orzammar and the Argoran Circle, Bastien has thrown himself into doing whatever he feels is needed to ensure that the Chantry remains there. Convinced that the Libetarians, and their leader Luna Taurean, are plotting something foul and unholy, and unconvinced of either the worth or dedication of the new First Enchanter Jadyn Pryce, Bastien has taken it upon himself to work against the Libetarians in support of the Chantry. Relationships First Enchanter Jadyn Pryce Bastien feels a mix of contempt and loathing for Jadyn, unable to forget that the now First Enchanter spent the majority of his life as an apostate outside the bounds of the Chantry. He feels that Jadyn is unfit for the position of First Enchanter, and cannot help but feel that having a former apsotate at the head of the Argoran Circle only encourages the Libetarians and allows them more freedoms than they should be allowed. Senior Enchanter Luna Taurean As would be expected of the relationship between the leaders of the Loyalsit and Libetarian factions, the relationships between these two senior Enchanters is strained at best and oepnly hostile at worst. Bastien detests Luna and all that she stands for, believing that she is one of the biggest threats facing the Argoran Circle and constantly on the lookout for her plots and plans. Actively working against her ambitions, Bastien enjoys to tease and bait the Libetarian, relishing how she always seems to raise to the bait, much to the chargin of the First Enchanter. Senior Enchanter Ellinor The leader of the Lucrosians of Argoran has fallen far from the influence her position might suggest. Now little more than Bastien's puppet, she serves the Loyalist leader by following his lead in most regards, giving him a level of political influence in Argoran that belies the apparently tentative position of his own fraternity in Orzammar. Redirect Main Page Site Backstory Category:Humans Category:Mage Category:Original Category:Orlais Category:Orzammar